The Lesser Spirts of Heidelberg Castle (An Account of Intrigue, and Supernaturalism)

Prologue: Seventy-two demons, were put into a bottle legend has it, in the days of Solomon, and were made to work for King Solomon in building his Temple, and the bronze vessel was said to have been sealed by magic thereafter with the seventy-two demons inside; but according to later tales, one demon of the seventy-two was released, and obliged to work for him (King Solomon). Solomon died at the age of about 60-years old, he never told anyone were that one demons was sent (but I know where he ended up), or what his future duties were. But it was said, he was to be of service to mankind in a most peculiar way-lest he be sent to the bottle by magic. He was to be the gate keeper for the lesser ghouls (or ghost, spirits, imps, and phantoms) in future time; those that might be assigned to a prison houses, or caught in-between an agonizing death, and moving on to the next existence.

The lesser spirits do as demanded by the higher spirits, the demons, or evil angelic spirits. Some folks in Africa wear amulets containing certain verses to protect them from such evil spirits, and around the world people quote their holy books to keep them at a distance, or “In the name of God,” is often used by Christians (or Jesus Christ). All in the hopes to rid themselves of these pests; in a like manner, these lesser spirits are subject (as I had already said) to higher spirits, and consequently, some are put into chains, clusters of lesser spirits that no longer are useful, and instead of bringing them down to the underworld, they leave them where they are, and find what is called, a Gatekeeper. For those who never had, a shield of faith in their human lives, are subject to become just that, a lesser spirit, guarded by a higher spirit, when no longer useful.

Advance: What you are going to read in a moment is a tale, of such an account, and believe it or not, there-in-between the lines-is an once of truth, or maybe two. In 1976, I was in Germany, and I was at the illumination, which they have once a year for about a week, at Heidelberg Castle.

Heidelberg is a city of some 140,000-people, it has an ancient bridge, most beautiful, and behind it is the castle, one of the most preserved castles in West Germany (I know this to be true, because I lived in Germany for four years, and traveled throughout Germany, and there must be some 20,000-castles, and I saw my share of them).

This of course is where scientists, anthropologist found the most famous jaw bone (I think, back in 1907), now called the “Heidelberg Man. (dating back some 600,000-years).

In addition to this quick sketch on the history of this area, the Romans ruled this city, at one time. Furthermore, there have been many battles in Heidelberg, dating back a thousand years or more. The old town of Heidelberg is dominated by its castle on the hillside (the one I visited in the summer of 1976). The old bridge gate is perhaps one of the city’s most charming sites, as is its standing courtyard, within the castle itself. I spent a good part of an afternoon there in 1976. But Heidelberg at dusk, with its illumination is most becoming.

The castle itself is in part Gothic to Renaissance. Prince Elector Ruprecht III (1398 – 1410) erected the first representative building in the inner courtyard as a regal residence. Under Friedrich V (1613 – 1619), the main building of the Westside was erected, the so called the “English Building”-and so on and so forth.

Index of characters

Will Renault: main character

Hans: the Guide

Georg: old man at the castle (lesser spirit)

Max: Great grand son

Carmon: old woman at the castle (lesser spirit)

The Angelic Being: Amduscias (Grand Duke of Hell)

The spirit voice of Rufael, Archangel

The Lesser Spirits of Heidelberg Castle

Part One: The Hotel and Courtyard

There was a dog howling all night under Will Renault’s window, he did not sleep well for this reason, along with having a glass of wine, he was thirsty, which still did not help in putting him to sleep, he could not sleep-period, but when he finally did it was early in the morning, 4:00 AM, there was the first pounding on his door. He slept through it, but was awakened by the continued knocking, and perhaps avoided a few of those knocks, hoping whoever it was, would give up and leave, try another day. So he hid his head under the pillow, but nonetheless, he woke up, sat on the edge of his bed, and the knocking stopped. He looked out the peephole in the door, no one was there. He looked out his window, a man was leaving the building, he caught a glimpse of his profile, not much, he looked too ordinary to be dangerous, so this flooded his cerebellum, but a curiosity remained within him, perhaps that was his nature, his mother had told him time and again, “…let things be as they are, no need to uncover a rock and watch all the worms come squirming out.” Words he should have taken to heart, not allowed to go in one ear and out the other. He watched the fellow walk across the street, and onto the Heidelberg Bridge.

(Will was a Staff Sergeant, in the United States Army, stationed in Munster by Dieburg, so they called the nuclear site’s location. It was hidden within a forest, and Will was on a three day pass to see Heidelberg, its castle, its bridge, and the evening illumination. He was in the center part of the old city, in a hotel, on the second floor, it had a balcony, he had now ventured out upon it to get a better look at that stranger, but he was down the block now, crossing the bridge.)

He didn’t have breakfast, he was in a rush to get dressed, and over to the castle, in which he walked, to enjoy the summer breeze coming across the river, and just take in the old city of Heidelberg, he wasn’t in a hurry to get to the castle per se, just to enjoy seeing it from a distance, and having it get closer and closer, as he walked across the bridge, and so forth. He stopped at a guesthouse, it was 11:30 AM, had early lunch, cabbage rolls, stuffed with meat and rice, a dark beer to wash it down.

He found himself in a small courtyard now, cobblestone courtyard; looking upward he had a terrific view of the castle.

Then all of a sudden he saw that man again, the one he saw leaving the hotel he was staying at (the courtyard was filling up with visitors quickly, Will sat on the edge of the stone fountain), and looked about at the young kids with German style traditional hats, and green trousers on, very picturesque he thought, and the women were attractive, of all ages, some older folks, a tinge clumsy it seemed. You could see the towers on the bridge from where he sat (if he stood that is), it was below the castle, and down a few blocks, yet he was only halfway up, to the main larger courtyard of the castle, which was most famous in its day, he needed to walk up the long brick road that circled around the side of the castle. This he would do shortly.

Will had on blue jeans, a cowboy hat (a giveaway for an American), and a white linen like shirt. A thick and wide leather belt, and black high army supply boots; he surely was not dressed for a beauty contest, but he liked to dress simply, and free, not to be too obvious, except for that hat of course.

The man, the very one that had left Will’s apartment was now approaching him, asked, “Can I be your guide, I know you’re an American, and I speak both German and English, I will only charge Seven dollars?”

Will didn’t answer right away, he was a bit surprised, on the other hand, it now made sense, he was trying to get employed, so he must had asked the hotel clerk where his room was, and that must had been him knocking at the door. Sure, it made sense, thought Will.

“What is your name, sir?” asked Will.

“Hans, just Hans, that is what everyone around here calls me, they all know me sir, as Hans, I’m harmless.”

It seemed odd, to Will, that a man had to tell another man he was harmless, but he pushed that off also, and figured he’d ask the clerk later on at the hotel if indeed he gave him his room number, and why. Something didn’t feel right, and he usually followed his intuition, his senses were more accurate than his thinking. But logically, it was all safe, he told himself, and went against his gut feeling, and he needed a guide, and what could happen by simply having him show him the castle, for seven dollars, that seemed fair, simple and fair.

-It now was an hour or so on the light side of dusk. They, Hans and Will had left the castle, everything seemed fine, and there Will was sitting on the edge of the stone fountain in the little square below the castle right were Hans had found him, and he was saying goodbye to him, telling Hans he was going to have a beer and bratwurst, and just wait for the illumination, the fireworks, although it would be an hour or so. So as he had told himself before, all was well, fine, his thinking was right for once.

Having said what,, Hans left, and Will was remembering a story Hans had told him, it stuck in his head as if it was placed their by magic to stay: as he sat there watching Hans walk into a wooded area, toward the back of the castle, he quickly disappear. He had told him that hundreds of years ago there was a siege on Heidelberg Castle, and that there would have been massive casualties of war, had not a certain incident taken place. The conqueror had directed all the women to leave the castle, and was going to kill the remaining souls, but that each woman could carry one thing out of the castle on their backs. The women took their husbands, carried them on their backs out of the castle, and the conqueror kept his word, he did not kill anyone whom was on the backs of the women, nor the women; thereafter, he proceeded to burn and kill at will, whom was left in the castle, disregarding any prisoners, for they would die in their cages, anyhow.